The days of ripping off a Band-Aid could soon be in the past, with scientists creating a new affordable, flexible electronic covering that not only speeds and wirelessly monitors healing but performs a disappearing act by being harmlessly absorbed into the body when its job is done.
“Although it’s an electronic device, the active components that interface with the wound bed are entirely resorbable,” said Northwestern University’s John A. Rogers, who co-led the study. “As such, the materials disappear naturally after the healing process is complete, thereby avoiding any damage to the tissue that could otherwise be caused by physical extraction.”
Electronic bandages are an emerging but by no means new technology, with earlier developments into bacteria-killing patches, motion-powered covers and even forays into smart dressings. But this dressing is the first bioresorbable bandage of its kind, delivering electrotherapy to wounds to accelerate healing by up to 30 per cent, and relaying data on the injured site’s condition to allow monitor of it from afar. The Northwestern scientists believe it could be a game-changer for diabetics and others who face serious complications from frequent and slow-healing sores.
My husband had a growth in back of his great toe for perhaps 30 years. It became ulcerated and we visited a foot surgeon in November 2021, he did a scan and said it was not cancer. The growth was removed on January 25, 2022. When the stitches were removed he informed my husband that it was cancer and the toe needed to be amputated. My husband said no! The pathology named it Atypical hidradenoma. We live in San Antonio Texas and traveled to Chicago to visit with Dr. Hayden from University of Chicago and Dr. Blank from Rush. They both looked at the pathology and an MRI and PET scan were done and were told it was not cancer. Let me mention that my husband is a 78 year old diabetic. The wound was very difficult in healing so we visited a local wound specialist and she has been treating him as needed. Lately it has began to bleed. I change his bandage daily and at times it looks like it is healing and other times it looks bad. My daughter who lives in Chicago heard about this healing device this morning and called to advise me. I started looking up information, tried calling Dr. John Rogers and Dr. Guerillmo Ameer but was not able to connect. Please give me some positive information. Thank you!! Donna Almanza, 708−214−3370
Unfortunately, “Researchers now plan to test the smart healer on diabetic ulcers in larger animals, before ideally moving on to a human study.”